He’s coming off the worst season of his career. Here are stats from his two-year stint with the Yankees thus far:

Year

W

L

ERA

IP

K

WHIP

2009

13

9

4.04

207.0

195

1.40

2010

10

15

5.26

186.2

145

1.51

Burnett had 31 more strikeouts in 2007 (165.2 IP) than he did in 2010. Remember, the Yankees signed Burnett to a five-year deal in the offseason after his 231-strikeout season.

Burnett earned respect from Yankees fans for beating Pedro Martinez in Game 2 of the 2009 World Series, but in my mind he lost that respect when he allowed five runs to the Rangers in Game 4 of this past ALCS.

Sorry, Cash. But I just don’t see the hope for Burnett to rebound. To me, he’s a two-pitch pitcher who somehow has lost the control necessary to be a starter; at least that’s what he showed me this past May, June, July, August and September.

Unfortunately, the Yankees are out of options with Burnett at this point. They just missed out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes and Andy Pettitte hasn’t showed any signs of making a return.

The Yankees are just going to have to try and fix Burnett. He is too big of an investment for them to throw away.